We ...with Anna: the Inclusory Plural Pronominal Construction in Finnish and Fenno-Swedish

Abstract

This article provides a syntactic analysis of the inclusory plural pronominal construction in Fenno-Swedish and Finnish. In this construction, a plural pronoun has a singular reading: vi …med Anna (literally “we …with Anna”) means ‘Anna and I’. In addition to the plural pronoun, the construction includes a comitative PP. Similar constructions can be found in several other languages, especially in the eastern parts of Europe which suggests it is an areal feature. The structural diversity of the construction in Fenno-Swedish and Finnish seems to require an analysis that differs from previous analyses of other languages. Instead of a derivation involving movements, the study suggests that the analysis must employ an unvalued feature. In some well-formed examples, the necessary movements would be far too complex for an appealing explanation. Additionally, the Fenno-Swedish construction seems to allow an insight into a degree of development where the construction has not necessarily been fully grammaticalised.